This is a blog about an adoptee and the hurdles that she faces. Life is always interesting.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

NATURAL PARENTS SUE THE FOSTER PARENTS AND STATE

I am seeing more and more of stories like these. The natural parents are suing the state and the foster parents of children dying in their care. I have seen it all over the United States not just Indiana. I pay closer attention to the state of Indiana because that is where I was born.

Indiana like Texas has been having serious issues with their foster care system and even with adoption in Indiana. They have caught a baby seller up there. They have had two children in the process of adoption die in the last year or so. Adoption in every state needs complete and utter reform. It needs a major investigation with the efforts of the FBI.

The mother of Destiny Linden, a 7-week-old Indianapolis girl who died April 29 while in the state foster care system, has notified the Indiana Department of Child Services that she plans to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the agency.

At the heart of Randi Linden's claim: Destiny was improperly removed from her by DCS, which led to the baby's death.

In a separate action, Michael Carter Love, Destiny's father, has filed a suit against Destiny's foster parents, alleging their negligence led to the child's death.

Susan Tielking, DCS spokeswoman, acknowledged the agency received the tort claim notice but said she could not talk about specifics of the case. She said the agency is about halfway through its internal investigation of how it handled the matter, a process that could take another month or two.

Destiny died eight days after a DCS caseworker removed her from Linden on April 21.

In court records, DCS officials claimed they had to remove Destiny because Linden failed to protect the child when she refused to go to a domestic violence shelter or press criminal charges against Love for an alleged assault in early April.

Indianapolis attorney David B. Wilson, who is representing Love in the suit against the foster parents, said his client "vigorously denies the allegations" that he assaulted Linden. Linden and Love were not married, and did not live together or have a relationship at the time of the incident or Destiny's death.

Three days after DCS placed Destiny in the home of Indianapolis foster parents Everett and Kim Coleman, she was found unconscious in an adult bed. Destiny never regained consciousness and was kept on life support systems for five days before she was pronounced dead.

The exact cause of her death remains undetermined, pending results of toxicology and other tests, but Marion County Chief Deputy Coroner Alfarena Ballew has said it appeared to be the result of an unsafe sleeping situation.

Destiny was at least the fourth child to die in Marion County since November while under the supervision of DCS.

Indianapolis attorney Nathaniel Lee filed Linden's tort claim notice with DCS in late May. Doing so is the first step required to file a lawsuit against the government agency. If the state does not approve the claim within 90 days, the complaining party has two years to file a lawsuit.

The notice states: "Due to the improper actions of CPS, Destiny Linden expired. We are hereby seeking damages against CPS for the wrongful taking of the child, which led to the wrongful death."

Lee also has asked Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi to look into several aspects of the case.

In a letter to the prosecutor, Lee said he thinks Love should have been criminally charged in the alleged assault of Linden -- which would have eliminated the need for Destiny to be removed from her mother. The letter states Linden refused to press charges because Love threatened her if she cooperated with police or prosecutors, but that investigators never made an attempt to determine why she was refusing to move forward with charges after filing an initial police report.

Matthew Symons, spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said the alleged assault and Destiny's death are under investigation by police and the prosecutor's staff. Until those investigations are completed, Symons said, he could not comment further on either matter.

In his suit against the Colemans, who were licensed foster parents in good standing with the state at the time of Destiny's placement, Love contends they had "a duty to use reasonable care for Destiny's safety." The couple breached that responsibility, the suit says, by placing Destiny in an adult bed, rather than a crib, and failing to properly monitor the infant.

As a result, Love states, he incurred medical expenses, emotional distress and the loss of the love and companionship of his daughter. The suit asks for "a fair and reasonable amount" of damages from the couple.

No attorney was listed in court records for the Colemans, and a telephone number for the couple in a police report filed when Destiny was found unconscious has been disconnected.

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About Me

I can't believe that I am doing this again. I am a Christian. I only become bible thumping when an individual misquotes or misinterprets the bible. Don't ever underestimate me. I am a wife to a wonderful man who is my super hero. I am the mother of five kids now. Two are grown with families of their own. I have three teenage girls. Oh Lord the hormones!

Yes I am an adoptee. It is not all that I am but it plays a key role in who I am. I am not a grateful adoptee but God did place me with a great family.

Currently I am attending college in Houston at a great community college. It is called Houston Community College. Ever heard of it? My goals are to attend Prairie View A & M and become a nurse. I want my bachelors and my masters. I am down to my last semester at HCC. Sadly an individual needs capital letters behind their name in order to be taken seriously

I also have two great dogs, Charlie and Maci, and Lady Spazz, our delightfully queenly feline. I am hoping to convince a wonderful black stray cat to allow us to become owned by her as well. Time will tell. She has already inspected our garage.

I am also a gardener now that my husband and I own our home in Katy, Texas. I love hibiscus flowers, roses, and lily daturas. My kids will tell you that it is mainly hibiscus. I have giants as well as normal ones. I also want another snow Hibiscus.

Welcome and enjoy. I should warn you that I have mellowed some but do not be misunderstood. I believe in adoptee rights period.